Connecting matrix structure



Aug. 6, 1968 B, BALLARD ET AL 3,396,358

CONNECTING MATRX STRUCTURE Po/v INVENTOR;

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed OCT.. 31. 1966 #Trata/fr;

Aug. 6, 1968 BI BALLARD ET AL 3,396,358

CONNECTING MATRIX STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Shee 2 Filed Oct, 3l, 1966#rra/@yam United States Patent O 3,396,358 CONNECTING MATRIX STRUCTUREBruce Ballard, Costa Mesa, and Ron Pizer, Palos Verdesv Estates, Calif.,assignors to Elpac, Inc., a company of California Filed Oct. 31, 1966,Ser. No. 590,590 9 Claims. (Cl. 339-18) ABSTRACT vF THE DISCLOSURE Thepresent invention relates to a terminal connection structure and moreparticularly to a terminal matrix for variously interconnectingelectrical circuit paths in accordance with pre-arranged patterns.

Various electrical computers, automatic control systems, data-processingmachines and related apparatus commonly employed electrical signalsrepresentative of numerical values and other data. In one form of suchapparatus, the representative signals are made up by binary digitalindications each of which manifests one of two binary states. Thesesignals are variously combined and manipulated within the system byvarious logic elements, e.g., and gates etc., to accomplish ythe desireddata-processing or computation operations. As examples, the signalsmight be manipulated within a system to accomplish an arthimeticcombination, to simultate various processes, or to provide currentinventories of stock items.

In using certain forms of apparatus employing digital signals, as wellas in other electrical apparatus, it frequently becomes desirable, ornecessary, to electrically interconnect component portions of a totalsystem. In many prior structures terminal panels are provided, not onlyfor connecting one component to another but also to programs orinterconnect various internal circuits within a component, in accordancewith a specic scheme of operation. A variety of differentterminal-interconnect apparatus has been available in the past; however,in general, such structures have had attendant disadvantages. As aresult considerable need exists at present for a compact, economicalterminal structure which may be emlployed to accomplish dilferentelectrical connections and which may be readily altered or changed withspeed and ease, and also which may be designed to have a prolonged life,relativley free of required maintenance. Accordingly, it is an objecthereof to provide an improved structure which obviates certaindifliculties and disadvantages of prior apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedterminal board or interconnect matrix, which may be economicallymanufactured in a compact form, and which is reliable, convenient to useand flexible to accomplish different predetermined electrical-connectionpatterns and which can incorporate circuit elements.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedelectrical contact pin jack or plug, incorporating an elongate shaft,and at least one pivot mount aixed to extend transversly from said shaftso as to support an electrical contact which may be -pivotally movedbetween two positions of alignment with the shaft, where- 3,395,358Patented Aug. 6, 1968 ICC by to acocomlish predetermined electricalconnections when mated with contacts of a receptacle structure.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide animproved electrical contact pin incorporating a plurality of individualcontacts, which contact pin incorporates a removal cap that may beconveniently and easily employed to withdraw the pin from a matingreceptacle.

Still one other object of the present invention is to provide animproved electrical circuit interconnection apparatus incorporating acontact pin and a mating receptacle structure for receiving the pin,both of which elements can be simply and easily manufactured in aneconomical `form that is reliable, relatively maintenance free and whichpin contains electrical circuit comp-onen-ts for cooperative operationtherewith.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from a consideration of the following, taken inconjunction with the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a terminal matrix structureincorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGUREl with displacement to illustrate the withdrawal of a contact -pin froma receptacle;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE -4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a single contact pin ofthe structure of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating various interconnect patternswhich can be accomplished with the structure of FIGURE 1.

Referring initially to FIGURE 1, there is shown a matrix frame or body12 from which a number of connection terminals or lugs 14 extend invertical rows to receive wires (not shown) or other electricalconnections. Inside the body 12, the lugs 14 are variouslyinterconnected by elongate contact pins 16 (heads only shown in FIG-URE 1) which pins are inserted into mating recesses in the body 12. Thepins 16 include a cap or head 18 'as shown in FIGURE l, and an elongateshank which fits inside the body 12 when the pin 16 is in an operativeconnecting position. Two of the Shanks 20 are shown in FIGURE l (one insection) and each carries a plurality of leaf-spring contacts 22 whichare individually aflixed to the pin shank 20 by pivot mounts 24. As aresult, each of the contacts 22 may be pivotally moved to extend awayfrom its pivot mount 24 in either direction of alignment with theelongate shank 20. This capability enables the contacts 22 to be set inaccordance with a pre-established program to obtain a desiredinterconnection arrangement between the lugs 14 (FIGURE 1). The pins mayalso incorporate electrical components as considered in detail below, toaccomplish various logic functions in cooperation with the contacts 22.

The caps or lheads 18 on the pins 16, are variously identiiied by numberlabels 26, to indicate the positions of the contacts 22 which will inturn accomplish associated binary code representations. The heads 18also facilitate manually gripping the pins 16 for withdrawal from thematrix body 12 as will be considered below.

Considering the structure in greater detail, and particularly that ofthe similar individual pins 16, reference will now be made to FIGURE 2.The shank 20 of the pins comprises an elongate parallelepiped oneexternal Wall 28 of which bears the pivot mounts 24 carrying thecontacts 22. Of course, the pins could be made of a wide variety ofother shapes, e.g., cylindrical, semi-cylindrical, and so on.Considering one of the contacts 22, in the shank 28 reference will bemade now to FIGURE 5. The wall 28 is formed of electrically insulatingmaterial, eg., phenolic, and receives a ferrule 30 through a transversebore 31. The ferrule 30 may be formed of resiliently-deformable materialsuch as rubber and incorporates annular end flanges 33 to defineshoulders 32 which hold the ferrule fixed in the bore 31. Inside thewall 28, the internal fiange 33 abuts an annular rim 34 extending from ahollow cylindrical stud 36 which is concentrically received through theferrule 30, extending through the wall 28. Outside the wall 28, thehollow stud 36 passes through an interior washer 40, a mounting ring 42(integral with the contact 22) and an external contact washer 44. Theexternal end 46 of the stud 36 is outwardly flanged to lock the stud 36into the bore 31 with the elements as'described fixed thereon. Thus, thecontact 22 extending from the mounting ring 42, as shown in FIGURE 5, isfreely rotatable on the stud 36 between the contact washers 46 and 44.In this regard it is to be noted that small detents 48 in the mountingring 42. tend transversely to assure electrical engagement.

The actual shape of the contacts 22 may vary considerably; however, ithas been determined to be advantageous to employ a somewhat arcuateshape incorporating a curve 29 in the leaf-spring contacts. Thisstructure in cooperation with the resiliently-deformable nature of thecontacts 22 assures good electrical connection to the mating electricalsurfaces.

The individual studs 36 in the pins are all similar to that describedwith reference to FIGURE and are mounted in plurality as shown in FIGURE2 to receive electrical conductors 56 which may be soldered in positionand are connected through electrical components 52 to a junction stud 54(shown in phantom) that is in turn connected through an electricalcomponent 56 (shown in phantom) to a common contact 22a.

The placement of the individual contacts 22 in cooperation with thevarious electrical components 52 and 56 permits the contact pin to beselectively programed to accomplish logical functions in addition tointerconnecting electrical current paths. Foiexample, the contact pincan readily function as for example, the contact pin or a coded signalgenerator. Exemplary of such capability, the pin can lreadily providethe combination of the circuit diagram as shown in FIGURE 7 representinga socalled and logic gate. Referring to that figure, an input terminal58, adapted to receive positive potential is connected through aresistor 60 to a junction conductor 61 and a terminal 62 from whichthree diodes 64, 66 and 68 are individually connected to the movablecontacts of single-pole double-throw switches 70, 72 and 74respectively. The stationary contacts of these switches are connected toa series of output terminals designated by true and false (actual andnegation) numerals indicative of digits in a conventional binary codesymbolic representation. That is, the terminals from the switch 70manifest either the existence or the absence of a binary one while theterminals from the switch 72 represent the presence or the absence of abinary two, and finally the terminals from the switc-h 74 manifest thepresence or absence of a binary four.

In considering the circuit representation of FIGURE 7, the applicationof a positive potential at the terminal 58 provides an and logic gatefrom inputs at the binary code fixed contacts of the switches 70, 72 and74 to an output a't the terminal 62. That is, unless all of the switches70, 72 and 74 receive a high-state binary signal, the potential at theterminal 62 is dissipated through one or more of the diodes to a sourceof low-state signals. However, if all the binary inputs are positive(high-state) then the diodes are cut off and a high-state signal appearsat the terminal 62. This functional structure is widely employed 'indata-processing systems and its incorporation in a connection apparatuswill provide considerable convenience in many situations. Furthermore,the structure hereof may also afford other functional circuits inaddition to logic gates. Specifically as another example, a binarysignal generator may be provided to accomplish any desired set of binarysignals at the binary-code terminals. That is, with the switches 70, 72and 74 set as shown, a binary value representative of decimal five isprovided at the binary terminals (1 E and 4). The diodes 64, 66 and 68,in such an application inhibit feedback or cross-coupling. Of course,various other numerical representations can be provided in binary-codedform by selectively positioning the switches 70, 72 and 74. Furthermore,by increasing the number of switch circuits the numerical capability ofthe unit is increased so that increasingly higher values can bepresented.

Referring back now to the structure of FIGURE 2, the physicalmanifestation of the circuit of FIGURE 7 may be seen to be presented inthe contact pin 20a. In this regard, the contact te-rminal 58 isafforded by the contact 22a; the movable element of the switch 74 isafforded by the contact 22b; and the movable element of the switches 72and 70 are provided respectively by the contacts 22e and 22drespectively. The terminal 62 is provided by lthe contact junction stud54. The resistor 60 is physically embodied .in the electrical component56 while the diodes 64, 66 and 68 are physically presented in theelectrical components 52 as shown. The stationary contacts of theswitches '70, 72 and 74 (FIGURE 7) are defined within the receptacle inwhich the contact pin 20a dwells. Specifically, the contacts 22, asshown in FIGURE 2 face a wall or board 76 bearing parallel conductivestrips 78, certain of which receivably engage the contacts 22. Thestrips 78 (FIGURE 3) are adhesively secured to the board 76, and areelectrically connected to individual connection lugs 14 by :rivets 80fixed along the edge of the board 76. In one specific exemplary form,the board 76 may comprise a phenolic printed circuit board on which thestrips 78 are formed by printed-circuit techniques. A plurality of theboards 76 are employed in the matrix body 12 as shown in FIGURE 1 toprovide an array of receptacles for the individual connector pins 20.

The boards 76 in the body 12 are held spaced apart by yoke frames 82which are generally of rectangular configuration and contain the boards76 in indented spaces. The frames 82 are also provided with transversechannels 84 which afford three sides of the rectangular receptacle forthe connection pins. Of course, the other side of the receptacle isdefined by a section of the boards 76. The frames 82, with the boards 76therebetween are held in alignment by bolts 86 extending through thesandwiched structure to fix the defined receptacles closed for holdingthe pins 20. As indicated above, the pins 20 may be coded to providevarious numerical values by selectively setting the contacts 22. Tovisibly manifest the particular numerical setting of a pin 20,appropriate numeral labels 26 (FIGURES 2) are placed in the heads 18.Specifically, the exterior faces of the pin heads 18 define a dove-tailslot 92 into which the labels 26 may be fitted by slight fiexure toprovide retaining forces.

The pin head 18 is slidably affixed to the shank 20 by telescopicallyreceiving an end section 94 of the shank which section is of reducedsectional size. A transverse pin 96, held in the head 18 then passesthrough a transverse slot 98 in the end section 94 of the shank 20 andis drawn in by an afiixed coil spring 100 (shown forceelongated inFIGURE 2) that is contained within the hollow section 94 of the shank2t). Thus, the head 18 can be lifted a limited distance from the shank20, to afford a better grip for withdrawing the pin from an engagingposition. Yet when the pin is fully inserted in the body 12, the cap orhead 18 lies drawn into the body 12, so that a closure tab 102 seals thechannel 104 in which the contacts 22 lie. As a result, the internalcontacts are closed to dust and foreign particles.

Considering the manufacture of the illustrative embodiment describedherein, the -frames 82 may be simply and easily formed of sections of aplastic extrusion. That is, plastic material may be extruded in thesectional form of the frames 82 and thereafter severed into lengths yasdesired and drilled to receive the bolts 86. The boards 76 which aresandwiched between the frames 82 may also be formed of productiontechniques utilizing printed circuit methods as previously suggested. Inthis regard, the boards 76 may be formed from copper-clad sheets whichhave been etched to leave the strips 78. Thereafter, the lugs 14 may beriveted by the rivets 80 along one edge of the boards 76.

The manufacture of the contact pin may also be accomplished economicallyby forming the basic pin body of extruded plastic channel 88 (FIGIURE4). That is, a section of channel 88 is cut to the desired length thenshaved to provide the section 90 of reduced thickness, which is thenbored to provide traverse elongate slots 92 and the bores which receivethe pivot mounts 24 and the slot 98. Next, the pivot mounts are set asdescribed with reference `to FIGURE 5 yand the cap or head 18 isassembled on the section 90. In this regard, the head 18 may comprisesimply a plastic molding which receives a transverse pin extendingthrough the slots 92 to provide the desired sliding relationship betweenthe head 18 and the shank 20.

On completion of the pin structu-re as described the electricalcomponents 52 and 56 can be mounted with their associated circuitry asshown in FIGURE 2. Thereafter, the open channel 107 (FIGURE 4) may beiilled with epoxy for example, potting the electrical components andsolidifying the pin and as a final step the identification label slippedinto the head 18 to provide an indication of the setting. Thereafter,the contact pin may be easily fitted into a mating receptacle or socketto provide the desired electrical interconnection. If, at a latter timeit is desired to remove the pin, the edges of the cap 18 may be lightlygrasped withdrawing the pin against the bias of the spring so that thecap or head will slide outwardly enabling the person withdrawing the pinto firmly clasp the pin as shown in FIGURE 2 for conlvenient withdrawal.

It is therefore apparent, that the structure hereof may be economicallymanufactured and effectively employed not only to accomplish desiredelectrical connections, but furthermore, each specic pin can be alteredto vary the particular electrical connections accomplished. Thisalteration is possible with ease, simply by rotating the contacts, andrequires no special tools or other equipment. Furthermore, theprovisions of the plurality of contacts along the generally-rectangularsection of the connector pin provides an effective housing forelectrical components which enable the structure to serve in an activecapacity as for example to perform the .function of a logical gate.

Of course, various alternate embodiments of the structure will occur tothose skilled in the art, therefore, the scope hereof is not to beinterpreted in accordance with the illustrative example, but rathershall be defined by the claims as set forth below.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical contact pin for selectively engaging various matingcontacts spaced on another member to accomplish signal coding,comprising:

an elongate shaft;

pivot mount means affixed to one side of said elongate shaftintermediate the ends thereof;

at least one electrical contact member having one end pivoted on saidpivot mount means and the other end pivotable, toward either end of saidelongate shaft to permit selectively displacement of said other endalong said shaft and thereby selectively engage said various matingcontacts.

2. An electrical contact pin according to claim 1 wherein said elongateshaft comprises an insulating material and furthermore said pivot mountmeans comprise conductive studs transversely affixed in said shaft.

3. An electrical contact pin according to claim 1 further comprising:

non-linear circuit elements fixed in said elongate shaft and connectedto said electrical Contact.

4. An electrical contact pin according to claim 1 further comprising:

a head member slidably aixed and biased on to said elongate shaft.

5. An electrical contact pin according to claim 4 wherein said headmember comprises means defining a space to receive an identificationtag.

6. An electrical structure according to claim 1 further comprisingreceptacle means dening at least one socket to receive said elongateshaft and further including conductive means for matingly engaging saidelectrical contact member.

7. electrical structure according to claim 6 wherein said receptaclemeans includes a wall common to plural of said sockets and wherein saidconductive means comprises plu'ral conductors supported on said wallwhereas to be -exposed in said sockets.

8. An electrical contact pin according to claim 1 wherein said elongateshaft comprises a length of rectangularsection insulating material;wherein said pivot mount 4means comprise studs transversely extendingfrom said shaft; and wherein said electrical contact member is inplurality and comprises a metal leaf spring of somewhat archedconfiguration having one end coupled to one of said studs.

9. An electrical pin according to claim 8 further comprising a pluralityof diodes said diodes individually coupled from each of said contactmembers to a common point.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,223,956 12/1965 Dufendach etal. 339-18 X MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

I. R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner.

